Things seem to be finally coming together for the Carolina Hurricanes under Coach Bill Peters. They finished a solid December with a 4-2 win over the team with the best record in the NHL, the Washington Capitals. The Hurricanes went 8-5-1 in December. The once floundering offense that was only averaging 1.8 goals per game has come to life and scored 41 goals in December bringing their average up to 2.4 goals per games, good for 24th in the league.
Winger Jeff Skinner has rediscovered his scoring touch with a team leading 15 goals, Defenseman Justin Faulk has scored 12 of his 14 goals as the quarterback of the Power Play and leads the team with 30 points, and Victor Rask, Kris Versteeg, and Captain Eric Staal have all been scoring consistently. Goalies Cam Ward and Eddie Lack have been consistent in the net and the Hurricanes have a 16-17-5 record and seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.
The season has not quite reached the halfway point and the playoffs are still a possibility for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes need to continue their offensive improvement and consistency in their goal tending.
Showing posts with label Jeff Skinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Skinner. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2016
Sunday, November 1, 2015
A Winning Streak
The Carolina Hurricanes returned to Raleigh, NC to face the Colorado Avalanche and came away with their third win in a row and they have a winning streak. The Hurricanes only put three goals on the board but I see hope for their offense. They are starting to crash the net and are getting several good scoring chances a game now. Jeff Skinner scored his second goal, Justin Faulk scored his fourth goal on the power play, and Kris Versteeg had two assists, one on a beauty to Victor Rask.
Friday, October 30, 2015
The End Of The Road
The Carolina Hurricanes just finished up a seven game road trip with back-to-back wins and a 4-3 record on the trip. The Hurricanes needed to start strong this season and a 6-6 record and eight points is not what the Hurricanes were looking for. The Hurricanes offense has had a hard time getting started, a problem that seems to have carried over from last season. They are only averaging two goals a game but a lack of offense seems to be malady suffered by many NHL teams. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers are also only averaging two goals a game with as much offensive firepower as those teams have.
The Hurricanes showed signs of breaking out of this offensive slump against the Islanders in their 3-2 shootout win as Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner repeatedly crashed the net for scoring chances. It paid off on the game tying goal as Jordan Staal made a slick pass to Chris Terry to hit the wide open net and then Defenseman Ron Hainsey got the game winner in the three-on-three.
The Hurricanes showed signs of breaking out of this offensive slump against the Islanders in their 3-2 shootout win as Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner repeatedly crashed the net for scoring chances. It paid off on the game tying goal as Jordan Staal made a slick pass to Chris Terry to hit the wide open net and then Defenseman Ron Hainsey got the game winner in the three-on-three.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Third Period Unkind
The Third Period has been unkind to the Carolina Hurricanes in their 0-3 start. The Hurricanes gave up three third period goals to the Florida Panthers in a 4-1 loss. Eddie Lack was in goal for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes offense is struggling to score goals (only five in three games) and they needed to get off to a fast start this season and avoid a repeat of last season's 0-6-2 start.
This is Bill Peters second season as the coach of the Hurricanes. I have to wonder how much leeway that General Manager Ron Francis is going to give him to turn the Hurricanes around. For that matter, I have to wonder how much leeway Francis is going to be given. The Hurricanes still have a good young nucleus of players. Eric Staal is in a contract year, Jeff Skinner has never been able to match his rookie success in large part due to injury, Justin Faulk is starting to come on strong and has a point in each game this season, and this season's top draft pick Noah Hanifin is off to a solid start. It will be interesting to see what kind of personnel moves the Hurricanes will make, front office and players, in the next few weeks.
This is Bill Peters second season as the coach of the Hurricanes. I have to wonder how much leeway that General Manager Ron Francis is going to give him to turn the Hurricanes around. For that matter, I have to wonder how much leeway Francis is going to be given. The Hurricanes still have a good young nucleus of players. Eric Staal is in a contract year, Jeff Skinner has never been able to match his rookie success in large part due to injury, Justin Faulk is starting to come on strong and has a point in each game this season, and this season's top draft pick Noah Hanifin is off to a solid start. It will be interesting to see what kind of personnel moves the Hurricanes will make, front office and players, in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
2015 NHL Draft
The Carolina Hurricanes needs are too many to be able to fix in one draft but their most glaring need is on offense. Free agency can help address some of those needs as the Hurricanes have $20 million in cap space. The Hurricanes were 27th in the NHL in scoring last season only averaging 2.2 goals per game. Their leading scorer Eric Staal only had 54 points in 77 games. Their second leading scorer was a Defenseman, Justin Faulk, who also led the team in Assists with 34.
The Carolina Hurricanes have the #5 draft pick. The Hurricanes need a player that is NHL ready like Jeff Skinner was in 2010. The Hurricanes need a forward with some size. The Hurricanes got pushed around by the more physical teams last year. I am not saying they need to turn into a reincarnation of the Broad Street Bullies, but someone who can go into the corners with bad intentions would help free up some of the offense.
Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel will go one and two. That is a given. What happens after that is debatable. I think that Left Wing Lawson Crouse will be available when it comes time for the Hurricanes to pick. He is listed at 6-4 and 212 pounds and is seen as the best, if not only, power forward in the draft. He spent the last two seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. He also played his way onto the Canadian World Cup Junior team where he had one goal and two assists in seven games.
The Hockey News has Lawson Crouse as the number eight prospect. The International Scouting Services has him at number four. Several of the mock drafts I have seen has Crouse going to the Philadelphia Flyers at number seven. He is on the Hurricanes radar. It depends on what happens before the Hurricanes get to pick will dictate who they select. Here is hoping the hockey gods are good to the Hurricanes for a change.
The Carolina Hurricanes have the #5 draft pick. The Hurricanes need a player that is NHL ready like Jeff Skinner was in 2010. The Hurricanes need a forward with some size. The Hurricanes got pushed around by the more physical teams last year. I am not saying they need to turn into a reincarnation of the Broad Street Bullies, but someone who can go into the corners with bad intentions would help free up some of the offense.
Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel will go one and two. That is a given. What happens after that is debatable. I think that Left Wing Lawson Crouse will be available when it comes time for the Hurricanes to pick. He is listed at 6-4 and 212 pounds and is seen as the best, if not only, power forward in the draft. He spent the last two seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. He also played his way onto the Canadian World Cup Junior team where he had one goal and two assists in seven games.
The Hockey News has Lawson Crouse as the number eight prospect. The International Scouting Services has him at number four. Several of the mock drafts I have seen has Crouse going to the Philadelphia Flyers at number seven. He is on the Hurricanes radar. It depends on what happens before the Hurricanes get to pick will dictate who they select. Here is hoping the hockey gods are good to the Hurricanes for a change.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Tanking It
A good draft can make or break any professional sports team's next season. The higher the draft pick, the better your chances of getting that franchise player that can help you turn the corner or get you into the playoffs the next season. That player can put fans in the stands, jerseys sell, and put some excitement back into the faithful. This is true of just about all of the professional sports.
The idea of deliberately trying to lose or "tanking it" to ensure that high draft pick when it is obvious a team is not going to make the playoffs has been a big issue in just about all of the professional sports over the course of the past several seasons. From some fans perspective, if you are going to be bad you might as well be the worst so you can get that high draft pick. #2 draft pick Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans had the #1 selling NFL jersey in the month of May. From my perspective, I hate losing more than I love the high draft pick and if I am going to spend money on my team, I want to see them doing everything possible to win.
The NBA is the only professional sports league that has a lottery style system, although it is weighted, to determine the draft order of the teams that did not make the playoffs. In the NFL it became the "Jameis Winston Sweepstakes" and in the NBA there is not a clear cut #1 Draft Pick. In the NHL it is thought to be Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. The Edmonton Oilers have the #1 Draft pick this year. This is the fourth year in six seasons they have had the first draft pick. No one can intentionally stink that bad can they?
The Carolina Hurricanes have the #5 pick in this year's draft so they should be able to draft a player that can help immediately. They were able to do that in the past with Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner.
The idea of deliberately trying to lose or "tanking it" to ensure that high draft pick when it is obvious a team is not going to make the playoffs has been a big issue in just about all of the professional sports over the course of the past several seasons. From some fans perspective, if you are going to be bad you might as well be the worst so you can get that high draft pick. #2 draft pick Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans had the #1 selling NFL jersey in the month of May. From my perspective, I hate losing more than I love the high draft pick and if I am going to spend money on my team, I want to see them doing everything possible to win.
The NBA is the only professional sports league that has a lottery style system, although it is weighted, to determine the draft order of the teams that did not make the playoffs. In the NFL it became the "Jameis Winston Sweepstakes" and in the NBA there is not a clear cut #1 Draft Pick. In the NHL it is thought to be Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. The Edmonton Oilers have the #1 Draft pick this year. This is the fourth year in six seasons they have had the first draft pick. No one can intentionally stink that bad can they?
The Carolina Hurricanes have the #5 pick in this year's draft so they should be able to draft a player that can help immediately. They were able to do that in the past with Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Where Is The Offense?
The Carolina Hurricanes are only ahead the Edmonton Oilers by one point when it comes to having the worst record in the National Hockey League. The Hurricanes are 9-19-3 for 21 points and have a solid hold on last place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Hurricanes are only averaging 2.1 Goals Per Game, good for 28th place in the NHL. Injuries have hit the Hurricanes hard as they lost Jordan Staal before the regular season and Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Jiri Tlusty have all missed extended time and the offense has had a hard time jelling under new Head Coach Bill Peters.
Defenseman Justin Faulk leads the team in scoring with 19 points in 31 games and Jiri Tlusty leads the team in Goals with 10. Only three players that have played in games for the Hurricanes have a + rating and that is Andrej Nestrasil with a +3 in 8 games played.
I do not know if an element of toughness would help the Hurricanes or not but they traded away team tough guy, Defenseman Jay Harrison, to the Winnipeg Jets yesterday for a 6th round draft choice. Harrison had two of the Hurricanes five fighting majors this season. The Hurricanes last fighting major the Hurricanes logged was a month ago when Brad Malone went against Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings. The Hurricanes need someone to protect the top scorers.
The big question is how do the Hurricanes open up their scoring? I would love to see the Hurricanes develop "Fast Break" hockey like the NHL had in the 1980's with almost every team having a scorer that topped 100 points. I don't see that happening anytime soon especially with the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes are only averaging 2.1 Goals Per Game, good for 28th place in the NHL. Injuries have hit the Hurricanes hard as they lost Jordan Staal before the regular season and Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Jiri Tlusty have all missed extended time and the offense has had a hard time jelling under new Head Coach Bill Peters.
Defenseman Justin Faulk leads the team in scoring with 19 points in 31 games and Jiri Tlusty leads the team in Goals with 10. Only three players that have played in games for the Hurricanes have a + rating and that is Andrej Nestrasil with a +3 in 8 games played.
I do not know if an element of toughness would help the Hurricanes or not but they traded away team tough guy, Defenseman Jay Harrison, to the Winnipeg Jets yesterday for a 6th round draft choice. Harrison had two of the Hurricanes five fighting majors this season. The Hurricanes last fighting major the Hurricanes logged was a month ago when Brad Malone went against Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings. The Hurricanes need someone to protect the top scorers.
The big question is how do the Hurricanes open up their scoring? I would love to see the Hurricanes develop "Fast Break" hockey like the NHL had in the 1980's with almost every team having a scorer that topped 100 points. I don't see that happening anytime soon especially with the Hurricanes.
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